Detergent-solubilized Preparations Research Articles

Enzymic O-glycosylation of synthetic peptides from sequences in basic myelin protein.

Nine synthetic peptides containing sequences in the region of a threonine residue at position 98 of bovine basic myelin protein were prepared by the Merrifield solid-phase method and tested for their ability to be glycosylated with [14C]uridinediphospho-N-acetylgalactosamine and a crude detergent-solubilized preparation of uridinediphospho-N-acetylgalactosamine:mucin polypeptide N-acetylgalactosaminyltransferase obtained from porcine submaxillary glands. The tetrapeptide Thr-Pro-Pro-Pro and all larger peptides containing this sequence were glycosylated. The glycosylation was greater for peptides containing residues N-terminal to the Thr-Pro-Pro-Pro. Under the conditions used, the peptide Val-Thr-Pro-Arg-Thr-Pro-Pro-Pro was glycoslyated twice as much as bovine basic myelin protein. Thr-Pro and Thr-Pro-Pro, as well as 10 other synthetic peptides which did not contain the Thr-Pro-Pro-Pro sequence, were not glycosylated. Treatment of the glycopeptide of Phe-Lys-Asn-Leu-Val-Thr-Pro-Arg-Thr-Pro-Pro-Pro-Ser with an alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidase released N-acetylgalactosamine from the peptide, indicating that the hexosamine was covalently bonded to the peptide in an alpha linkage.

Proteins of the kidney microvillar membrane. Immunoelectrophoretic analysis of the membrane hydrolases: identification and resolution of the detergent- and proteinase-solubilized forms.

Antibodies raised in rabbits to detergent-solubilized pig kidney microvillar proteins have been used to investigate the membrane hydrolases by crossed immunoelectrophoresis. Eight enzymes were detected by specific staining methods: aminopeptidase M, dipeptidylpeptidase IV, neutral endopeptidase, aminopeptidase A, carboxypeptidase P, gamma-glutamyltransferase, trehalase and phosphodiesterase I. The mobility of all these enzymes, with the exception of trehalase and neutral endopeptidase, was increased by treatment of the detergent-solubilized preparation with papain. The difference between the detergent and proteinase forms of these enzymes is attributed to the removal of a small, non-antigenic peptide to which detergent is bound in significant quantities. This interpretation was further supported by experiments in which the microvillus fraction was labelled with an intramembrane photolabelling reagent, 1-azido-4-[125I]iodobenzene. After photolysis, the radioactivity in the membrane could be solubilized by detergent treatment but not by papain treatment. Radioautography after crossed charge-shift immunoelectrophoresis showed a good correlation between charge-shift (signifying the presence of detergent bound to a hydrophobic domain) and the presence of the label.

Human erythrocyte Ca 2+-Mg 2+-ATPase: Mechanism of stimulation by Ca 2+

In the presence of ethylene glycol bis(β-aminoethyl ether) N,N′-tetraacetic acid (EGTA), a detergent-solubilized preparation of human erythrocyte membrane Ca 2+-Mg 2+-ATPase was separated by gel filtration from its activator protein, designated as calmodulin; this makes the enzyme dependent on an exogenous calmodulin for maximum activity. In the presence of Ca 2+, ATPase co-migrated with calmodulin, and the enzyme activity was independent of an exogenous calmodulin, suggesting that the enzyme and calmodulin form an active holoenzyme. Lowering the Ca 2+ level dissociates the two proteins, returning the enzyme activity to its basal level. A time course experiment indicated that the effect of Ca 2+ on the enzyme·calmodulin complex was immediate and reversible. Calmodulin exerts its effect on ATPase primarily by increasing its V. Thus, the mode of stimulation of human erythrocyte Ca 2+-Mg 2+-ATPase by calmodulin appears similar to that of Ca 2+-dependent adenylate cyclase and phosphodiesterase.

Effects of lipids on the activity of ferrochelatase

Removal of lipids from submitochondrial particles or detergent-solubilized mitochondrial preparations of rat liver resulted in a 90% loss of ferrochelatase (protochemeferro-lyase, EC 4.99.1.1) activity. The addition of either a fatty acid or phospholipid restored enzyme activity; the extent of reactivation being correlated with the degree of unsaturation of the fatty acid or acyl chain and independent of the polar head group of the phospholipid. Arrhenius plots of the ferrochelatase activities of submitochondrial particles and detergent-solubilized mitochondrial preparations showed transition temperatures of 37 and 28.5°C, respectively. Ferrochelatase of submitochondrial particles or detergent-solubilized preparations had an absolute requirement for Ca 2+. The ferrous salt of oxalic acid, a Ca 2+ chelator, was a very poor substrate for these preparations. In contrast, ferrochelatase activities of fatty acid- or lipid supplemented acetone extracts of these preparations were not dependent on the presence of Ca 2+ and ferrous oxalate served as substrate for these extracts.

Auxin binding to corn coleoptile membranes: Kinetics and specificity

Detailed examination of binding over the range 10(-7)-10(-6) M suggests that membrane preparations from coleoptiles of Zea mays L., cv Kelvedon 33 contain at least two sets of high affinity binding sites for 1-naphthylacetic acid (NAA), with dissociation constants of 1.8×10(-7) M (site 1) and 14.5×10(-7) M (site 2). Similar studies with 3-indolylacetic acid (IAA) also indicate two sets of binding sites, whose concentrations are closely comparable to those deduced for NAA. A substantial proportion of the total binding activity is retained in a detergent-solubilized preparation. Using [(14)C]NAA the interactions of a range of analogues with each of the binding sites have been examined with the aid of double reciprocal plots. The specificity of site 2 is compatible with that expected for an auxin receptor, in that only active auxins, antiauxin transport inhibitors are able to compete with [(14)C]NAA for the binding sites. Site 1 on the other hand is less specific, since it appears to bind all compounds tested, including physiologically inactive analogues.

Structure and function of cholera toxin and hormone receptors

The enterotoxin from Vibrio cholerae is a protein of 100,000 mol wt which stimulates adenylate cyclase activity ubiquitously. The binding of biologically active 125I-labeled choleragen to cell membranes is of extraordinary affinity and specificity. The binding may be restricted to membrane-bound ganglioside GM1. This ganglioside can be inserted into membranes from exogenous sources, and the increased toxin binding in such cells can be reflected by an increased sensitivity to the biological effects of the toxin. Features of the toxin-activated adenylate cyclase, including conversion of the enzyne to a GTP-sensitive state, and the increased sensitivity of activation by hormones, suggest analogies between the basic mechanism of action of choleragen and the events following binding of hormones to their receptors. The action of the toxin is probably not mediated through intermediary cytoplasmic events, suggesting that its effects are entirely due to processes involving the plasma membrane. The kinetics of activation of adenylate cyclase in erythrocytes from various species as well as in rat adipocytes suggest a direct interaction between toxin and the cyclase enzyme which is difficult to reconcile with catalytic mechanisms of adenylate cyclase activation. Direct evidence for this can be obtained from the comigration of toxin radioactivity with adenylate cyclase activity when toxin-activated membranes are dissolved in detergents and chromatographed on gel filtration columns. Agarose derivatives containing the "active" subunit of the toxin can specifically absorb adenylate cyclase activity, and specific antibodies against the choleragen can be used for selective immunoprecipitation of adenylate cyclase activity from detergent-solubilized preparations of activated membranes. It is proposed that toxin action involves the initial formation of an inactive toxin-ganglioside complex which subsequently migrates and is somehow transformed into an active species which involves relocation within the two-dimensional structure of the membrane with direct perturbation of adenylate cyclase molecules (virtually irreversibly). These studies suggest new insights into the normal mechanisms by which hormone receptors modify membrane functions.